The Sith and the Savior
by MLEther
Summary: Emma is an orphan, abandoned on the remote planet of Tatooine. She works as a bounty hunter around Mos Eisley and other star systems. A young boy claiming to be her son appears and tells her of her destiny. She is fated to save her family and the galaxy from the Evil Empress Regina, a Sith Lord of immense power who has ruled the galaxy for the last 28 years.
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away…

Sand. She hates sand. It's course, dry, and it gets everywhere. Bent on one knee she picks up a fistful and watches it pour to the ground. _He's late_. She thinks as she sits perched in an alley across from the Mos Eisley Cantina. She picks up another fistful of sand and rubs it around in her palm with a slight snarl. Her eyes remain fixed on the entrance to the Cantina as she feels the wind pick up slightly. _Sandstorm_. If he shows up soon she'll have enough time to tie him up and haul his ass to the Hutt's before the storm hits. She wipes a couple loose blonde strands from her eyes and squints- an ugly, fury creature with three eyes shuffles to the entrance of the Cantina. _There he is_. She picks herself up and strides to the Cantina.

The Cantina remains darkly lit, the smoky air creating an atmosphere of thick anonymity. She slips through the main door and surveys the room for her prey. The Cantina is full today, loads of humans, humanoids, and strange creatures packed into the tiny space seeking refuge in cheap booze and bad music. That band. That _stupid_ band that is always playing that _stupid_ song, she thinks as her eyes fall upon the large-eyed, large-headed "musicians." In a booth next to the stage she spots him, the scrawny little perp who thought he could steal from the Hutts and get away with it. _Game time._ She strolls over and sits opposite her prey. He's mousy, small, and smells of a blown negative power coupling. His three eyes bounce around the room in opposite directions, but they quickly focus on the beautiful blonde that suddenly drops in the seat in front of him.

"Tenal- Ka?" he says, eyes fixed on the woman across from him.

"Yup. That's me. You must be Grizex." The mousy creature shifts his eyes around the room, then leans forward.

"You asked for the thermal detonators?"

"How many you have?"

"'Bout 30 cases."

"We agreed to 70. What good will 30 do me?" says Emma fixing her penetrating green eyes on the mousy scum's center eye.

"Ran into some… _complications_. I'll give you 30 and lower the cost 10%."

"70%."

"25."

"60."

"50, final offer." A bead of sweat slides down his mangy brown hair and drips to the floor.

"Fine." Smirks Emma thinking about what a horrible haggler this guy is. He relaxes into the back of the booth feeling confident in his abilities, yet a little shaken with the abrasive vibe coming from the woman he's making a deal with. He's new to this, and hopes it doesn't show.

"You're obviously new to this," Emma deadpans, "so I'm going to ask you _where_ you got these exactly." The creature flinches, each eyeball is now directed towards Emma, surveying her closely- but the blonde senses his panic.

"Th-there's no need to know." He says as tension rises up his feet, he places a hand over his holstered blaster.

"Tell me." Emma says dryly. She notices his arm tense and slightly bend at his side, he's unholstering his blaster. "Don't be a fool."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He says as calmly as he can as he quietly fingers his blaster, panic flooding into his brain.

"Look, Grizex. I can tell when people are lying, and you are off the charts. Now don't be bantha fodder, and come with me _quietly_."

"Come with you? W-where?" his panic levels surge through his brain. She knows.

"To the Hutts. I could make a pretty good plea for mercy on your behalf, though I can't promise you wont lose an eye." The mousy creature begins to shake with fear. "Did you _really_ think you could steal from the Hutts and stick around Tatooine let alone Mos _Eisley_?"

"Who… who are you?" he stutters. The green eyes give a slight twinkle in the dark atmosphere.

"Just a person trying to make a living."

"A bounty hunter." He whispers. Emma simply shrugs her shoulders and smirks. The mousy creature leaps to his feet and fires a shot, but before he even left his seat Emma was right behind him. Kicking the backs of his knees, his body drops and she shoves him onto the table. She grabs his gun and puts on the restraints as she looks around, nobody even notices what's going on. The band continues to play, the villains continue to drink and conspire. She smirks and drags him from the Cantina, placing him across her speeder. He wiggles off and tries to squirm away with both his hands and feet tied. "_Seriously?_" she moans half annoyed, half amused. She takes his gun and hits him on the back of the head. With a loud _clunk _he passes out and she puts him back on the speeder and flies off towards the Hutts' palace.

She gets home late, the smell of Rancor shit fresh on her clothes. Jabba's palace always smells like Rancor shit- especially after a feeding. She winces a little bit as she recalls the mousy creature's eyes as he dropped through the trap door straight into the mouth of Jabba's favorite pet. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the day's blood-soaked cash and plops it on the table. Pulling out a small cake she tosses it on the table and takes off her jacket. _I'm 28 years old today_, she thinks with a sigh as she looks down at her dry, crumbling cake. She's always spent her birthdays alone, except for that one time she was trapped in a Zarnak pit on Pythos on a bounty-gone-bad. Her eyebrow twitches at the memory as she slumps into her seat looking at her cracked cake. No family, no friends, just a lonely bounty hunter making her way through the universe. _Just how I like it_ she tries to convince herself, but her thoughts betray her as she starts to pick at the cake- recalling each year she's eaten one, always on the same day, always alone, always…

Her thoughts are interrupted by a brisk knock on the door. _Who the hell is that? The storm's almost here_. Pulling out her blaster she walks warily to the door. She pushes the button quickly and thrusts her arm out expecting her blaster to be pointed right in someone or something's face, but there's nobody there.

"Excuse me." Comes a small voice. She looks down and sees a little boy in a navy blue tunic with a large backpack strapped behind him, his green eyes look up into hers. "Are you Emma Swan?" The blonde's eyes widen at the mention of her real name. Hardly anyone knows it. The boy picks up on her expression and smiles. "I'm Henry. I'm your son." He pauses waiting for a response, but there is none. The wind picks up and the rough sand starts slicing through the air. "Storm's here, I better come in." And with that he slides past the blonde as she remains firmly planted in the doorway, mouth dropped. The sand starts pricking and biting across her skin, snapping her out of her daze. She quickly closes the door and turns around to confront the kid who is now happily sitting in a chair helping himself to her cake.

"Hey, whoa, um… kid. Who are you?"

"I'm your son, Henry."

"I don't have a son."

"Ten years ago, did you give up a boy for adoption?" he sees the blonde's eyes narrow with memories. "Yup, that's me."

"Okay," says the blonde sitting down trying to settle herself, "if that's true… where are your parents?"

"At home."

"Where's home?"

"Coruscant."

"_Coruscant?!_ How the hell did you get way out here?"

"Snuck onto a delivery freighter."

"_Seriously?_" she looks at the kid in front of her with awe. "I have to get you home."

"Can't. There's a storm." He smiles as he munches on the cake.

Emma groans as she hears the storm whistling outside of her hut. "When the storm passes, I'm putting you on the next shuttle out of here."

"Then I'll just come right back."

"No you wont."

"Yes I _will_." She looks into his eyes, he's telling the truth. "You'll have to take me back yourself." She lets out a big sigh and realizes he's right. There's no way around this situation, the kid's too damn stubborn. _Like me_. She briefly thinks before pushing the thought clear from her mind.

"Fine, but don't get comfortable, kid. The minute the storm's done… we're outta here." The small boy smiles victoriously as the blonde stands up and goes to her room to pack a small bag for the long journey. She steals casual glances to the boy who has now pulled out a small data disc and flicks through it like he's studying every detail of data. "What's that?" she calls from the other room, but Henry quickly shuts it off and puts it in a small pouch on his utility belt.

"I'm not sure you're ready." He says plainly. Emma raises an eyebrow, _who the hell is this kid?_

The winds die down and an eerie silence passes over a city as residents await confirmation that the storm is finished. After five minutes, Emma shoulders her bag, holsters her blaster, and motions for Henry to follow her. They walk down to the docking bay and come upon a small, battered A-wing fighter with a single, yellow stripe sloppily painted down the center. Emma slides the hatch open and lifts the kid into the passenger side, then jumps in after him, closes the hatch and starts pushing buttons and flipping switches. Lights come on with faint flickers as the engine powers up, it dies, she kicks the inside of the cockpit and it suddenly starts up with a roar and they're flying into the air and on their way to Coruscant.

The journey to Coruscant is long and light speed is quiet. The light of suns, moons, and planets whiz by the small A-wing fighter at a nauseatingly fast pace as the two travelers sit quietly. Henry fidgets in his seat and pulls out his data disc player once more and looks through it.

"Do you know about Jedi?" he says, glancing over at the pensive blonde seated next to him. She looks at him and raises an eyebrow.

"Jedi? Yeah, they're extinct."

"Not completely."

"Oh come on, they're long gone, kid. Everyone knows the Empress destroyed them all when she founded the Galactic Empire."

"There's a prophecy. One that says a person born of true love will have the power of the Jedi and will take down the Empire."

"That's a nice story."

"It's not a story. It's real. The Empress destroyed the Jedi, erased everyone's memories, and froze time to prevent the prophecy from coming true. Nobody in Coruscant remembers who they are."

"Whatever you say, kid." She turns her attention back to the whizzing lights flashing past the cockpit. Henry looks down at his data disc, and then back to the blonde.

"It's you."

"Hmmm?"

"The prophecy. It's you. You're the one who is meant to destroy the Empress and bring down the Empire."

"Me?" she snorts, "No way, kid… I'm just an orphan and a bounty hunter."

"But it's real. You're the product of true love!"

"True love? Let me tell you about true love, kid. That's an even older and more mythical power than the Jedi. I was born to a couple of suckers that didn't want me, so they dumped me in that sand-ridden hellhole to rot. _That_ is the truth. I'm not a part of any prophecy and I'm sure as hell not any kind of Empire-ass-kicking Jedi." Henry sighs and pockets his disc. An alarm flashes overhead, Emma flips a switch and they ease out of light speed. Laid out before them is the vast, capitol of Coruscant. Trillions of lights flicker from the endless rolls of towers and factories. With a slight jolt and a couple more kicks at the inside of the cockpit, Emma immerses the A-wing in the bustling traffic of the Empire's capitol city. "Okay, kid, where to?" Henry bites his lip and remains silent. "Hey, where am I going?" No response. Irritated, she pulls into the first landing bay she sees. She turns to him sharply, "Look, kid I don't have time to play these games. Where am I taking you?"

Just then there's a tapping on her fighter, she slides the hatch open and looks down. Looking up at her is a tall, bearded man with blue eyes. A blaster grasped in his hand, his other placed on his hip. "Hey, you weren't cleared to land." Emma looks him up and down, he's wearing a black tunic with a black leather vest, a gold pendent pinned on the left side of his chest. "Can you step out here, please?" She's taken aback by his polite request, and decides it's best to follow his instructions. Sliding down her fighter she stands opposite him. "Name?"

"Tenal…. Uh, Emma. Emma Swan." She wonders why she decided to give him her real name.

"Okay look, Emma… you weren't cleared to land. There may be a lot of traffic in this city, but we know when people enter- and you did not have permission."

"And who are you?" She asks, eyeing the gold pendant.

"Graham. Head of the Coruscant Police Force, Sheriff of the Empress." She looks him up and down once more. _A bit young for such a big title_, she thinks.

"Sorry, I don't want any trouble, I was just in a hurry to deliver something and be on my way."

"There's no leaving."

"What?"

"Don't you know? There's a force shield surrounding the city preventing anyone from leaving without the Empress' direct permission." Emma raises and eyebrow and turns toward her fighter. Henry's head pops out just over the rim of the cockpit.

"_Henry_?" Graham says, eyes growing wide. "What are you doing here?" He looks at Henry who stays silent and then back to Emma. "What are you doing with the Empress' son?" Emma's heart stops. She looks up at Henry.

"You're the _Empress'_ kid? _Seriously?_" He sinks low into the cockpit, out of sight. Her jaw tightens, she's heard stories about the Empress, and just based off what she's heard- she finds herself wishing she'd rather be covered in Rancor shit or back in that pit on Pythos.

"I think you'd both better come with me." Graham says as he motions towards his fighter. Henry crawls out of the cockpit with his head lowered, Emma follows him and the Sheriff trying to think of the best way to explain what's happened. The speed through the city, dodging other fighters and moving at an incredible speed until they approach a massive, dark tower in the center of the city. After landing in the docking bay, Graham escorts them through a series of long, sleek, shiny halls until they enter a large black chamber lined with guards in long, charcoal robes. At the end of the chamber, seated atop a large throne she sees her. The Empress. Dressed in a long leather cape, a tightly synched leather corset, and dark leather pants; her eyes dark and swirling with tints of purple. Her hair sits atop her head, black as night, silky, and sharp. She eyes her visitors with furious curiosity, until she sees her son stumbling behind the blonde and the Sheriff. Her eyes rise in flames as she jumps from her throne and glides towards them.

"Henry!" she says in a fierce tone coated with concern. Her voice is low and smooth, if Emma hadn't been so terrified in that moment she would almost call it soothing. She looked at the figure that plagued the nightmares of children and adults alike, the woman whose countless cruelties marred the walls of every home in the galaxy. She should have been petrified, but as she saw the brunette cling to her son she felt a wave of affection that she couldn't even begin to describe. _She's a human_, the blonde thinks briefly before her thoughts are snatched away as those swirling eyes turn on her. "And who are _you?_" she hisses. Emma gulps, her breath seeps from her throat as she views this terrifying, yet incredibly seductive, force towering before her.

"Hi." She squeezes from her throat. _Stupid, stupid! _The Empress cocks an eyebrow and looks her up and down. Emma tries to find words, but realizes that the sheer magnanimity of the Empress prevents her from even thinking clearly. Luckily Graham steps in.

"This is Emma Swan. She arrived about an hour ago with Henry."

"You found him, then?" She states as she pierces her eyes into the blonde- searching for the story.

"I found her." Says Henry as he pushes away from his mother. The Empress turns her attention to her son who stands defiantly against her. "She's my _real_ mom." The brunette snaps her head back to Emma, purple swirling in her eyes. Emma chokes on her breath as she sees rage and a twinge of worry behind the other woman's fuming eyes.

"_You're_ Henry's birth mother?" Says the brunette, cocking her chin upwards as she surveys the blonde once more.

"Yeah." Emma manages to breathe out. What semblance of maternal affection that rested in the brunette's eyes now vanished, replaced with fury and protection. "I don't want any trouble. I just wanted to bring him back and be on my way."

"You have my permission. Leave." Says the Empress as she turns and clutches her son's shoulder. Emma sees him wince and is suddenly filled with concern. The Empress turns to her son, "To your room. _Now._" Henry shakes her hand away and runs from the chamber. Emma watches him go and feels a foreign sense of sympathy for the boy, for reasons she can't yet explain- she finds that she desires to hold him and comfort him. "Well, Miss Swan. You have my permission, now _leave_." Emma remains in her position, her gaze resting on the hallway Henry ran to.

The brunette shifts her eyes up and down the blonde standing before her. Blonde hair cascades down her shoulders in soft curls, her jaw set firmly and strong, she wears a dirty white shirt covered by a red jacket, her black pants and black boots beaten and faded from sand. Her appearance is ratty and unkempt, but there's something about her strong jaw and confident green eyes that makes the Empress catch her breath for a moment. She finds herself thinking about the slender yet muscular form of the woman standing before her, but she quickly pushes these thoughts aside as she realizes this same woman is actively defying her.

"Guards!" she hollers, "Escort Miss Swan from the palace." Emma jerks from her thoughts as two tall guards surround her and begin shoving her towards the door. As she walks towards the door, she glances back at the Empress who seems to be standing a little less tall as she watches her go. As they walk onto the docking bay, she senses tension in the guards behind her. She turns around just in time to catch one of their spears as they try to jab her in the back. Holding the guard's spear she knees one in the gut, the other lunges at her and she hits him over the head with the spear. Four more guards come rushing from the doors and she reaches for her blaster and starts running. As she rounds a corner, a hooded figure snatches her and pulls her into a niche.

"I'm here to help you, keep quiet." A soft feminine voice whispers as she holds a hand over Emma's mouth. The guards rush past them and the two women go unnoticed. The hooded figure removes her hand from Emma's mouth. "My name is Mary Margaret, if you value your life you'll come with me." Emma looks down into the soft eyes of the woman in front of her, she sees a glint of friendliness and has a sense that she's here to help. Emma nods her head and she's quickly whisked away over a balcony into a hidden fighter. They speed off into oncoming traffic and sink lower and lower to the bottom levels of the city.

"You're lucky you have fast reflexes," says MM glancing over at her, "the last dozen to have the Empress' _permission_ weren't as fortunate as you."

"Why would she try to kill me?"

"Nobody leaves." MM says through gritted teeth as they sink deeper and deeper into the city.

Emma takes a deep inhale and tries to process what had just happened. It seemed like centuries ago that her long lost son showed up at her door, flipping her world upside down. And now she's whizzing into the slums of the Empire's capitol city nearly escaping death with the aid of a complete stranger. She's now trapped in a city run by a terrifying, yet alluring, Empress- and she can't help but feel some sort of bizarre twinge of exhilaration


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you mean she just, '_disappeared_?!'" hissed the Empress, gritting her teeth. Her long, dark fingernails dug into the armrests of her throne- scratching away at the metallic surface. Incompetency, especially when manifested from those under her employment, created a boiling fume of livid bile swirling around her stomach- it crept slowly up her body until she could taste the acidity in the back of her throat as she listened to one of her guards stumble over his words. She breathed heavily through her nostrils, inhaling heat, exhaling toxic gas as her dark eyes latched onto the light brown eyes of the guard standing before her. She watched his dry lips fumble as beads of sweat trickled down from his temples, wrinkles pulsating around his forehead- his words became white noise, putrid disgust seeped into the Empress' pores, coursing through her veins- waiting for release.

"We turned a corner and she was gone."

"_Enough._" Came a sharp whisper from the Empress, the word dripping with disdain. The two guards before her flinched as her eyes shot between them, Sheriff Graham stood by the door to the great hall, nervously twisting his fingers around each other behind his back. He knew what was coming. The Empress leapt to her feet and with a small flick of her wrist, the two guards launched through the air hitting the hard, slick stone of the opposite wall. She raised her hand, the two bodies sprang into the air revolving around one another- faster and faster until her fist closed shut and the two bodies smacked together. The sound of cracking skulls echoed throughout the room causing the rest of the guards present to flinch, Graham remained firm- his eyes fixed on the floor. The remains of the two guards fell in hard heaps on the metallic floor… the Empress fixed her eyes on Graham who now lifted his face to meet hers. "_Find her_." She hissed to the Sheriff, who bowed and exited the room without a word. She spun around and eyed the rest of the guards who lined the room. "_Leave!" _She shouted, and without hesitation they marched through the doors, leaving the Empress alone with her thoughts.

Alone in the great hall, the Empress clenched and unclenched her fists, feeling the force slowly encircle her fingers before receding in a dark cloud deeper into her body. She inhaled sharply through her nose and began pacing. _Infuriating blonde_. _Why would Henry seek her out? She's given him everything. But first… how did he even know to find her?_ _These questions will have to be answered later. What's important now is that she's out there… this, Emma Swan. She's hiding out in this large city- plotting to steal her son from her. _The Empress sat heavily on her thrown, her nails scratching into the armrests. _She's not going to let that happen_.

"Good Morning!" comes an incredibly too chipper voice jolting Emma from her sleep. Whisked away into the deep recesses of her dreams, the blonde had completely forgotten that she was no longer in her crummy little hut on Tatooine. She opened her eyes and saw a high rusted metal ceiling covered in leaky pipes and humming machinery. "Morning." She scratched out from a dry throat as she swung her legs over her cot and rubbed her head. Stretching out her limbs, her face screwed tight as memories of the previous day flooded back to her mind, with each new thread of clarity came a thousand more frazzled hems of unanswered questions.

"You okay?" came Mary Margaret's soft voice as she pushed a tin mug into the blonde's hands. Emma didn't respond quickly, memories continued to make themselves known as she stared into her mug- sloshing the slippery brown liquid around the tin before taking a small sip. _Coffee_. She internally hummed with gratitude that coffee was a substance that transcended galaxies. "Sorry it's not the best." Shrugged MM. Emma almost forgot that someone was sitting next to her.

"Oh, um- no, actually it's _great_," she said with a genuine nod towards the brunette sitting next to her, "I'm used to a brew more similar to jawa shit, so this is definitely Class A coffee." She gave a small smile and took another, deeper sip- ignoring the completely confused look on the other woman's face. As MM sat trying to think of what her guest meant by "jawa" she shook it off and decided there were more important things to discuss.

"Anyway," she said with a great sigh, "how are you feeling?"

"I guess I'm okay." Replied Emma as her green eyes searched around the room for clues as to her whereabouts. The room looks like an old droid manufacturing plant. Leaky pipes, rusted walls, broken bits of machinery and electronics scattered and huddled in piles around the room. A half dozen other cots lined the walls, thin blankets and pillows in the same position in which she had seen them last night. Everything after she had been saved by MM was a little hazy, she couldn't quite remember how they arrived or if she had met anyone else. "Where am I?"

"An old droid manufacturing plant on the lowest level of the city. I know it doesn't exactly scream comfort, but it's home for now." Replied the brunette surveying the room with a small huff of longing for another life. She eyed a generator across the room that started shaking, she jumped off the cot pulling a wrench from her utility belt and started fumbling with the bolts around the jittering machine. It grumbled and shook harder, MM began slamming the wrench across the top and with a loud of puff of steam, the machine simmered down to a low hum to harmonize with the rest of the strange machinery covering the room.

"Generator having problems again?" came a deep voice entering the room. Emma looked up to see a tall, blonde man striding into the room. His pale white skin covered in soot, his hair wind blown, deep lines of stress creasing beneath his bright blue eyes. His broad shoulders and wide arms revealed a white tunic covered in black smudges of grease and soot, while the rest of his body was covered in crudely cut light brown leather. At his side hung a battered blaster and a crowbar. Emma surveyed him up and down- he'd clearly had a long night. He held out his arms as he approached the brunette who flung herself into his embrace.

"I was worried about you," She said as she pushed his shoulders back so she could take in his appearance, "what happened?" The blonde man shrugged his shoulders and wiped a hand through his hair.

"Well," he sighed, "after you left we went out digging up recon from the mystery ship that entered the city last night when we were ambushed by the Imperial Guard. We managed to slip away, but it took the whole night to evade them."

"Where's Ruby?"

"She'll be here soon." He squeezed MM's shoulder and gave her a small smile of assurance. "Glad to see you made it back, where did you go?" The small brunette's eyes drifted from the man's face over to the cot Emma still occupied. His gaze followed hers and he suddenly stiffened up, his hand hovering over his blaster. Emma's eyes remained firmly fixed as her own hand hovered slowly over her own blaster, though she had the feeling she wouldn't need to use it yet. MM's hand softly covered the man's hand.

"She's a friend," she whispered and immediately the tall man relaxed, his blue eyes once filled with suspicion cleared to a soft hue of friendly curiosity. He slowly strode over towards the cot and Emma stood to meet him as he stuck his hand out in front of him.

"I'm David." He said with a small smile.

"Te-uh… Emma. Emma Swan." She said giving his hand a firm shake. She couldn't understand why she was suddenly possessed to tell all of these strangers her real name. There was something about this place that encouraged her to push towards a more honest approach. Perhaps it was her sudden and unexpected brush with mortality, or perhaps it was this foreign and almost familial feeling she had in her stomach when around these two.

"Forgive me being cautious, it's not every day there's a new person standing in the HQ of the rebellion."

"The rebellion, huh?" At this, David's brows knitted together in confusion.

"Is that not why you are here?" He looked at Emma and then back over his shoulder towards Mary Margaret. Before either of the women could explain a loud bang echoed around the room followed by an incredibly flustered figure stumbling into the room.

"Goddamn power cables on the left power cuppling of my speeder short circuited again." Came a wheezing voice. As the smoke cleared Emma saw a young, slender brunette wrapped in dark red leather armor pull herself from the ground, dusting herself off. "Also, we're gonna need to fix the door because I may or may not have crashed into it just now."

"Ruby!" groaned MM grabbing her wrench and pulling at the socket wrench at her tool belt as she ran to the door.

"What? No welcome home?" Ruby said with a broad smile. MM stopped in her tracks and ran to her friend, holding her in a close embrace. Cupping her face with her hands she looked over the tall brunette's face.

"You okay?"

"You betchya." Smirked the tall brunette holding the small brunette's shoulders. MM smiled and then smacked the taller woman's shoulder.

"Stop breaking my door." She playfully huffed as she scurried out of the room. Cracking her neck and her fingers, the tall brunette moved towards the water basin the corner of the room.

"You're gonna have to patch my leg." She through over her shoulder to David as she limped to the basin. "That last wave of imperial assholes was a real _bitch_ to throw. If my damn speeder hadn't given out they wouldn't have been able to knick me." She said casually as she tossed water across her face and neck. She looked over her shoulder and saw Emma.

"Who're you?"

"Emma. Emma Swan."

"Ruby." Said the brunette with indifference as she turned back to the basin and began wiping her face with a towel. Tossing the towel on the ground she limped over to a nearby cot and threw herself down. "Hey Charming, live up to your name and help me out here." She said as she pulled her boots off and examined the graze from the blaster that hit her calf. She noticed Emma's confused look, "Charming's his nickname cause he's just _oh so chaaaarming_." She laughed as she raised her voice to a baby voice.

"Oh ha ha," said David as he grabbed an aid kit and began patching the brunette's leg.

"So, Emma, you here to join the fun?"

"Oh um… I…" before she could respond, MM reemerged red faced and annoyed.

"It's going to take weeks to fix that door, Rubes." The tall brunette shrugged.

"Okay MM, what's Emma's story hmm? She looks a little too clean to be hangin' down here with the rest of us."

"I'll explain in a minute." Said the small brunette as she ran to the make shift kitchen and brought out a few more tins of coffee and handing them out. Taking a seat on a cot she motioned for Emma to join her. After everyone was seated and relaxed, MM dove into her tale.

"After I left to return her, I saw Graham headed towards the Dark Tower with Emma and Henry."

"Henry?" gasped David, "what was he doing with Graham?"

"More importantly what were _you_ doing with Graham and Henry?" said Ruby eyeing Emma suspiciously.

"That's what I wanted to know," said MM drawing the attention back to herself, "she was the one who flew into town and I thought it best that I follow to see what was going on. I camped outside the Dark Tower and saw her emerge with two Imperial Guards behind her." David and Ruby both nodded their heads understanding what that meant. "I had to save her. I didn't get a threatening feeling from her, and I figured that if the Empress wanted her gone- than she'd be more than helpful to keep around so I picked her up and brought her here."

"How do you know you can trust me?" said Emma. The three suddenly remembered she was sitting nearby.

"Good question." Said Ruby turning from Emma to MM.

"I don't know," said the small brunette turning her gaze to Emma's green eyes, "It's just a feeling I have. Like I've met you before." It wasn't a solid answer for the blonde, but the other two seemed to take it as valid reasoning and nodded their heads.

"What was your business with the Empress?" said David, his blue eyes piercing into Emma for answers.

"Henry," stumbled out Emma trying to find a way to explain the situation, "He… uh…"

"I found her." Came a small voice from the rafters. The group jumped at the sound all reaching for their weapons. Henry giggled as he swung across a few platforms and shimmied down a pipe to the floor. "Relax it's just me."

"Henry, how many times have I told you you _can't_ be here." Breathed Snow, putting her wrench back on her utility belt.

"I know, but this is important," he turned to the rest of the group, "So, you've all met my mom." Silence fell upon the group.

"That's not funny." Said Ruby staring at Henry as she slowly rubbed the sensitive skin around her blaster wound.

"Oh no, not the Evil Empress. My _real_ mom, Emma." The group twisted their heads towards Emma. She had no idea how to respond, her head still reeled from the sudden change that creating words seemed futile. Henry stepped in and regaled the whole tale from beginning to end. As he finished, the group sat in stunned silence.

"Holy shit." said Ruby.

"You said it." Mumbled Emma. The group sat in baffled silence for a few moments before Henry chimed in.

"So, let's get to destroying the Empress and bringing back everyone's memories."

"Whoa, kid let's just think about this for a second. I know your mom is like… the Empress and all, but what makes you think she'd put up some huge force field, freeze time, and erase everyone's memories? That seems a little far fetched." Henry's optimistic smile defused to rubble as his face dropped with Emma's words.

"You don't believe me?"

"Well, I don't…" Emma sighed and hung her shoulders.

"It's asking a lot for anyone to believe, Henry." Said Snow placing her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her hand off and stood before Emma looking directly into her eyes.

"You _are_ the Savior. You _are_ here to save everyone and restore their memories. You _are _the lost Jedi that will defeat the Evil Empress. I know it."

"Kid…" Emma started, but Henry held his small hand up in front of her face.

"You need to see Gold."

"That scummy used parts dealer? Sure he's a part of the rebellion, but he only helps with spare parts and supplies. Why should she see him?" asked David.

"He has something that will prove to all of you that Emma is here to save us."

"Force fields, memory loss, Saviors… why the hell not? Come on." Moaned Ruby fixing her boots on and standing to leave. Henry beamed and grabbed Emma's hand making his way to the door while the rest of the group hesitantly followed behind.


End file.
